ABC Upfronts

Change is in the air at ABC, where they are adding new scripted programming after taking last year off due to the WGA and SAG/AFTRA strikes.  A familiar name is returning to Mondays, with Monday Night Football back in its long-time perch for selected weeks.  The network has yet to announce what will air in the weeks where football remains on ESPN only.  Dancing With the Stars moves to Tuesday, followed by High Potential, written by Drew Goddard and starring Kaitlin Olson.

Wednesday kicks off with the first installment of The Golden Bachelorette, followed by Abbott Elementary and Scamanda, a docu-series based on the podcast about a wife and blogger who faked cancer.  9-1-1 returns for its second season on ABC to kick off Thursdays, followed by Doctor Odyssey, a new medical drama from Ryan Murphy and starring Joshua Jackson.  The 21st season of Grey’s Anatomy wraps up the night.  Friday remains the same, with Shark Tank followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday also stays stable, with America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by three hours of The Wonderful World of Disney.

On the bench for mid-season are new installments of American Idol, The Bachelor, Celebrity Jeopardy, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, the final season of The Conners, The Rookie, What Would You Do? and Will Trent.  A new version of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, produced by Reese Witherspoon, is also on the docket.

Shows never to be seen again are The Good Doctor, Not Dead Yet, and Station 19.

You Ought To Be In (10) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 107 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of July 1.

We start today with the 27 actors that have starred in exactly 10 movies that I have seen, even from 3 years ago.

Jessica Alba

After a string of eight films in six years in the mid 2000s, there has been nothing new for Jessica Alba since I saw her in 2010’s Valentine’s Day in 2011.

Dan Aykroyd

No change in Aykroyd’s total, with it going on 21 years since I last saw one of his starring roles.

Elizabeth Banks

Banks first graced my screen in a starring role in 2006 thanks to The Baxter.  After a dry spell in the early 2010s, she bounced back with seven films in five years, finishing up with 2018’s The Happytime Murders, which I saw in 2019.

Kate Beckinsale

It’s been a quiet six years for Beckinsale, who I last saw in Underworld: Blood Wars in early 2017.

Emily Blunt

Our first new entry, Emly Blunt’s first starring role was in 2007’s Wind Chill.  Thanks to three films in 2014 and another two in 2018, her latest, 2021’s A Quite Place Part II, gave her ten appearances.

Gerard Butler

The Scottish actor first appeared on my screen thanks to 2003’s Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, which I saw in 2005.  The Has Fallen franchise gave him three additional appearances, in 2013, 2016, and 2020.  He last made a mark in 2022 with two films, 2016’s A Family Man and 2022’s Last Seen Alive.

Chevy Chase Continue reading →

ABC Upfronts

ABC is taking a cautious approach to their fall schedule.  With the ongoing writer’s strike putting the availability of scripted shows in doubt, the network has put all of its eggs in the reality basket.  Long-time stalwart Dancing With The Stars, after being shunted off to Disney+ last year, returns to its familiar Monday night perch.  The night ends with the Golden Bachelor, a dating show for AARP-set.  Tuesday night brings another installment of Celebrity Jeopardy! followed by two hours of Bachelor In Paradise.

Wednesday retains a bit of a comedy block, with Judge Steve Harvey, followed by an hour of Abbott Elementary reruns and another installment of What Would You Do?  Game shows take over Thursday night, with Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Press Your Luck, The $100,000 Pyramid.  Friday remains the same, with Shark Tank followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday kicks off with America’s Funniest Home Videos followed by three hours of The Wonderful World of Disney.

On the bench for mid-season are 9-1-1, rescued from FOX, Abbott Elementary, American Idol, The Bachelor, The Conners, The Good Doctor, Grey’s Anatomy, Not Dead Yet, The Rookie, Station 19, Will Trent, and High Potential, the only new show on the docket.

Shows never to be seen again are A Million Little Things, Alaska Daily, Big Sky, The Company You Keep, and The Goldbergs.  The fates of Home Economics and The Rookie: Feds are still up in the air.

ABC Upfronts

After a cautious year following the pandemic shut down of 2020, ABC is mixing things up with their fall schedule.  The week gets off to an unfamiliar start, as long-time stalwart Dancing With The Stars is being shunted off to Disney+.  Instead, Monday nights will start with the former summer staple Bachelor In Paradise followed by The Good Doctor.  Tuesday night brings another installment of Bachelor In Paradise followed by The Rookie: Feds, a spinoff of The Rookie starring Niecy Nash.

Wednesday’s comedy block switches things around a bit, with The Conners starting things off, followed by The GoldbergsAbbott Elementary, and Home Economics.  Big Sky moves over from Thursday to finish off the night.  Thursdays start the same, with Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy followed by Alaska,  starring Hilary Swank as a disgraced journalist who leaves New York for Alaska.  Friday remains the same, with Shark Tank followed by two hours of 20/20.  Sunday stays mostly all reality, with America’s Funniest Home Videos, Celebrity Jeopardy!, and Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, followed by The Rookie.

On the bench for mid-season are Not Dead Yet, a comedy starring Gina Rodriguez, and the returning The Wonder Years, A Million Little Things, American Idol, The Bachelor, and Judge Steve Harvey.

Shows never to be seen again are Black-ish, Queens, and Promised Land.

Book 9 (of 52) – Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

When word broke last week that Ray Bradbury had passed away, I decided to take a second look (I think) at his seminal work, Fahrenheit 451.  Judging by the release date on my copy of the 70th printing, I’m guessing I was supposed to have read this in junior high.  If I did get through it back then, very little of it stayed with me, as I went into this reading knowing nothing beyond the broad strokes probably known by society in general.

Bradbury takes a strong stance against television and the role it is playing in dumbing down society.  Remember, this was first published in 1953.  There had yet to be a Fear Factor, or The Bachelor, or even a Keeping Up with the Kardashians.  In this dystopian future, Bradbury’s protagonist, Guy Montag, is a fireman, a profession that no longer puts out fires, but now starts them in order to destroy the ideas contained in the written word.  When he is called to burn not just a woman’s library, but the woman herself, he begins to question his role in this destruction and sets out on a path to try and change the world.

If I did (or had) read this in the 7th or 8th grade, I don’t know if I got (or would have gotten) as much out of it as I did reading it now.  Maybe even delaying it a few years into high school would have given me more perspective to pick up on the themes underlying Bradbury’s desolate future.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Bradbury.  Your work will continue on for years to come.